Abstract
A recent software development process model, the spiral
model proposed by
Boehm,
suggests heterogeneous development where the high risk
elements of the software
are
evaluated first, before entering detailed elaboration of
low risk elements. The
spiral
model presents a major challenge to future software
prototyping tools which, to
be
useful, must support prototyping at different phases of
the development process
and
must support heterogeneous prototypes, i.e. prototypes
that consist of parts
that
represent different abstraction levels of the software to
be produced.
We present an interpreter supporting heterogeneous
prototypes of embedded
systems
based on executable specification techniques. The
interpreter is based on
defining a
mapping from an extended data flow diagram notation, the
transformation schema,
to
high level Petri nets, and a set of scheduling algorithms
for execution of
system models
of different levels of abstraction.
We have demonstrated the capability of the interpreter by
constructing
experimental
prototyping tools supporting three of the abstraction
levels proposed by the
Ward &
Mellor Structured Analysis for Real Time Systems (SA/RT)
method. For an SA/RT
logical model the interpreter supports graphical
animation as a means of
prototyping.
For physical design models the interpreter supports both
graphical animation
and
real time execution.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Qualification | Doctor Degree |
Awarding Institution |
|
Supervisors/Advisors |
|
Award date | 7 Jun 1991 |
Place of Publication | Espoo |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 951-38-3948-6 |
Publication status | Published - 1991 |
MoE publication type | G5 Doctoral dissertation (article) |
Keywords
- software engineering
- embedded computer systems
- prototyping
- structured analysis
- Petri nets